Shakugan no Shana: Oblivion Nightmares
by Justin Beazer
Summary: A chunk of her memories she had forgotten, but someone wants her to get it back. Yet sometimes some things are better off being not known. Her worst nightmare begins from now; a nightmare she will never wake up from. She can no longer escape from her past that she tries to cover. Will anyone be there to protect her and turn it into a sweet dream?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Shakugan no Shana. I created this story solely because I enjoy writing.

Author's Notes: I am writing this under the assumption that Season 3 had never happened. The Devourer is an OC created by me.

**Chapter 1 **

**Those who stand in the way shall be devoured**

It was night in Tokyo. A man was walking in the empty street, holding an umbrella. This man looked to be in his early thirties, and he had short grey hair.

Suddenly someone approached him. He was a young man with a handsome and cool face. He had short blond hair that was straight and smooth, big, round azure eyes, a sharp nose and a thin mouth. Standing at 180 centimeters tall, he wore a black jacket with simple white shirt, and black slacks.

"Are you one of the Outlaws who work in the Tokyo branch?" He asked, his voice cool.

The man looked surprised. He knew this was not a question that a random person would ask out in the streets. He glanced around in fear, but could see no one else. The street was surprisingly empty for a big city, only two people were standing on it.

The young man opened his mouth to speak once more, but suddenly something rang inside the man's pocket.

"Damn it... Fucking detectors..." The blond guy groaned. Apparently, there was a detector hidden inside the man's pocket. It would ring once it detects Crimson Denizens or Crimson Lords nearby. And when that happens, a Flame Haze would bound to be on the way.

The elder man's eyes widened in fear and he quickly took a few steps back. The blond guy walked towards him with a boring look in his eyes. He stretched out his left hand.

"Tell me. Solomon is still alive, isn't he?" He asked, pulling the man's shirt. "Answer me, or I'll devour you."

The man shook in fear, breathed rapidly and did not say anything.

"You're useless..."

He summoned his weapon with his right hand. The man watched in horror as some red vines spread out of the Crimson Denizen's shoulder and formed a broadsword on his outstretched hand. It was red in color, had curves on the blade, and had a sharp tip.

"I will devour you. Time to eat." He said coolly.

Yet before he could do anything, the Fuzetsu was set up. Someone appeared from behind him and fired a few projectiles at him. He took a quick glance behind, threw the man into an alley, and leaped out of harm's way. He turned around and stood face to face with a female Flame Haze.

She has long, straight black hair, with her fringe cut straight and laying on the right side of her face. The left side of her fringe is pulled back and tied in a bunch by a braid from the side of her hair. She has dark eyes, a fair complexion, and a thin build. Her clothing is a white suit comprised of a jacket and trousers, with a blue collared shirt underneath and a red or plum-colored sash tied around her waist, where she wears the straight sword-shaped Divine Vessel.

He recognized this Flame Haze, although he had never battled her before. She was a very famous Flame Haze, and acknowledged as one of the best Flame Haze in the East.

She was the Bladed Flower Slaughterer, Yu Xuan, a Flame Haze bound to Crimson Lord Di Hong. Nevertheless he was a little surprised that she was the one who turned up, because he had expected her to be in the Outlaw post in Shanghai.

"It seems that a poor Crimson Denizen is hungry." She commented. "But I cannot let you kill a member of my mob, so I have to kill you instead."

The blond guy sighed. "One after another... When will they actually learn?"

Yu Xuan raised her sword and pointed at the Crimson Denizen. "I shall not waste my time with a mere Denizen. I will finish you off right now."

"Go ahead..." He murmured, staring at his enemy.

"Death will be quick." She said, "Shashin Kensei." Her body dispersed into a plum-colored mist, but the sword, Kun Wu, was still visible. Then she charged at him, horizontally spinning her weapon as the core covered by the mist, becoming a disk-like saw.

The guy did not even bother to move when he saw it coming. Still holding his weapon, a red broadsword, he transformed the blade into a mouth (shaped like a crocodile's mouth) with extremely sharp teeth. Then when the attack was about to hit him in the face, he merely raised his sword coolly and...

Devoured the weapon.

The Crimson Lord as well as the Divine Vessel had been devoured, and the poor Flame Haze had all but lost her power. She became visible once again, her eyes wide with bewilderment, clenching her teeth and fists.

"If you had minded your own business, it wouldn't have come to this..." He said with a boring expression. "I will devour you now."

He raised his weapon once again, and this time, stabbed the mouth into her heart. She screamed in pain as she felt her body disintegrated, becoming blood-red vines that began to wrap around the Devourer's entire body.

Then the screaming was over. A Flame Haze was wasted. The vines wrapping around the Devourer was disappearing little by little, entering his body. And when all the vines had disappeared, Yu Xuan was standing there, her weapon on her hand.

The Fuzetsu was deactivated. Then the man, who almost became a victim of the Crimson Denizen, scarpered out from the alley.

"Oh, Miss Yu Xuan, I'm glad you came in time. The Crimson Denizen had almost had me eaten." He said, still shaking, but looking very relieved.

"Needing a woman to help you fight..." Yu Xuan said to him, "You still call yourself a man?"

"That doesn't count... You are a Flame Haze, and I am a human. I couldn't have stood a chance against a Crimson Denizen." The man replied, feeling a little offended, but not showing it out. He was still very grateful for Yu Xuan for saving him. Or so he thought.

"That's right. You won't stand a chance." Yu Xuan retorted, a hint of arrogance in her voice. Then she said in a creepy sort of way. "And so is she."

"Huh?" The man said. He was feeling a little strange. Yu Xuan's words were creeping him out.

"You don't understand what I'm saying? Then let me rephrase it for you." Yu Xuan said with a triumphant gleam in her eye, "That Flame Haze you sent was no match for me at all."

"What... What are you saying?" The man was really scared now. There was a quiver in his voice.

"I merely want some information about Solomon from you. And you had to go ahead and send me a fucking bitch that screamed like a fucking whore beside my ear and nearly broke my ear drum." She said, placing her left hand on her waist. "I guess that means you die, then."

"M-Miss Yu Xuan, please don't joke about things like this, it's not funny it's really scary, please stop." The man said very quickly, gulping.

"That ain't no joke." She said. She raised her sword and pointed at the man, "I swore I will kill you if you don't tell me about Solomon. Now you just die."

The man screamed and tried to run away.

"Shashin Kensei."

And he was no longer running.

X

Yu Xuan entered the Tokyo Outlaw branch and was greeted by a few Outlaws there. She looked around and looked at a young teenager with brown hair who seemed to have joined the ranks recently. He was sitting behind a table full of documents.

"You." She said to him, "I have a request."

"Yes? How can I help you?" He said politely.

"I need the records of a Crimson Lord by the name of Matt Solomon. Centuries ago, he lived as a prince in Central Europe, and was supposedly murdered by a Flame Haze back then. But I have received intel that he is actually still alive today."

"Centuries ago?" The guy asked, "How many centuries was it, exactly?"

"No idea. Just a long time ago. Probably a millennia ago, even."

"Hmmm." The guy said, scratching his chin, "Please hold on."

He went to the computer and typed a few keywords, and after a while he returned with a resigned look.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't find any Solomons in our database. Maybe the history is too old and too insignificant that it was deleted. Just so you know, we can't possibly keep tabs on everything in the past. But if you really need the info, I can go look up on the paper archives."

"No it's okay. You have done well." She said. She already half knew that there will not be anything about Solomon no matter how hard the person searched.

She quickly left the place before anyone could call her. She walked back to the street where the fight broke out. It was still empty. She looked around to see if anyone was following her. Not a soul could be seen. However, she could scarcely detect the presence of a Crimson Lord nearby, but was definitely not hostile. Then the Devourer got rid of his disguise.

The red vines came out of Yu Xuan's shoulders and wrapped around her entire body like a cocoon. Then, slowly, one by one, the vines dispersed and entered the body once again. The Devourer was standing on the spot where she had been standing. His eyes were boring into the dark alley. He knew someone was there. Ironically it was the same alley that he threw the man into.

Then a man stepped out of the alley. He clapped his hands while smiling at him. The claps echoed around the silent street.

"Impressive," he said, "Very impressive. She was one of the greatest and most respected Flame Haze ever, and yet you disposed of her so easily like she was nothing but a mere irksome fly."

The Devourer looked at the Crimson Lord. He had the appearance of a grown man with grey hair. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses and a dark colored suit. The Devourer knew who he was instantly. He had seen him before, but not vice versa. The Crimson Lord was Thousand Change Sydonay.

"That woman is one of my worst nemeses. We have battled for centuries, but neither of us could emerge victorious. Now ironically she got killed by a Crimson Denizen right in front of my eyes. Although I would have very much liked to end her life by my own hand, I can't help but feeling proud of your achievement. You have helped us get rid of an enemy, and we Bal Masque are now one step closer to completing the Grand Order. And for that, you have my thanks."

"Your enemies are none of my business. I got rid of her because she was in my way."

Sydonay laughed, "How ironic. So this is how her life ends, that poor Yu Xuan. Killed because she was merely _in your way_."

The Devourer pulled out a map and was studying it. He was barely paying attention to Sydonay.

"I like your guts." Sydonay commented, placing his hands in his pockets, "You'll get rid of any foe in your way no matter how strong they are. Most Crimson Lords would have ran away at the sight of her. But you, a Denizen, had been brave enough to seek a fight with her. And win! Upsets don't happen often, but they do once in a while. The same as soccer."

As Sydonay continued to talk, the Devourer was already making his leave.

"Now just a second, it's rude to leave in a middle of a conversation." Sydonay said to the Devourer's back.

"I have nothing to say to you." The Devourer answered emotionlessly, not even looking at him.

"Your combat prowess is second to none... for a Denizen. We could have someone like you in our ranks. You'd provide us a lot of firepower in combat."

"Not interested..." he said and walked away.

"Then how about stealth missions?" Sydonay said, picking up his speed and walking alongside him. "You have the ability to change your appearance-"

"Which is something you can do as well, Thousand Change..." the Devourer retorted, "Stop following me, I'll devour you as well if you piss me off."

Sydonay chuckled, as if laughing off the Devourer's threats, then said, "You'll make the best ninjas look like children with your ability to infiltrate an Outlaw post. Just like the way you did just now... Picking up the disguise of my old 'lover' and trying to fork out information from them. But it's futile, they do not know anything about what you seek."

The Devourer suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Just what are you getting at?" He asked, staring angrily at Sydonay.

"We strike a deal. I happen to possess the knowledge of Solomon's whereabouts. You do some work for us, we'll do the work for you, so then you can finally finish off Solomon once and for all, isn't that what you want?" Sydonay said smugly. The Devourer merely gaped at him.

"You know where Solomon is?"

"I do. In fact I could serve his head on a silver platter to you if you weren't so keen on killing him yourself. Hey maybe I should really do that, since you killed someone that was supposed to die by my hand," Sydonay paused for a while, pretending to think hard, "But no matter; you do some work for us, and we'll do the work for you. Do we have a deal here?"

"If I find out that you lied just to use me..." The Devourer said while staring coolly and Sydonay, "I'll devour you."

Sydonay snorted and said, "Rest assured. I'm a man of my words."

The Devourer folded his arms and thought for a while, his fringe covering his eyes as he hung his head down. Then he lifted his head and set his body straight. He had made his decision.

"Count me in." he said.

Sydonay grinned.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Shakugan no Shana. I created this story solely because I enjoy writing.

**Chapter 2 **

**Remember what you have forgotten**

Wilhelmina Carmel awoke with a strange feeling in her gut. This feeling seemed to act a harbinger of an atrocious calamity that was about to happen, in her opinion. Either that, or she was merely very hungry. She never had a habit of eating supper before bed.

She went out of her room, still feeling a little groggy from waking up. She was not able to sleep well recently. She had received a lot of reports from the Outlaws on a few Denizen attacks in this week which seemed really strange, if not ridiculous. And they had given her an assignment as well.

First, a Crimson Denizen had killed all the humans in a mall in London without setting up the Fuzetsu, causing a huge panic among the citizens. Then, a Crimson Lord by the name of Neymar took over the existence of Justin Bieber and did the Gangnam Style dance naked on stage before consuming all of the fans in a concert in Canada.

And finally, in Tokyo, one of the Outlaws had discovered a Crimson Denizen and called for Yu Xuan's help. Yu Xuan then returned to HQ after the battle and asked another Outlaw about a Crimson Lord that had died a millennium ago before leaving. Then she left and was never seen since. The same goes to the Outlaw.

So now Wilhelmina's job was to search for Solomon, the Crimson Lord that Yu Xuan had been looking for, while hoping to locate her as well. She would not really had accepted the task if it weren't for Yu Xuan being an old acquaintance of hers. She had assisted her a couple of times in battles with the Crimson Denizens, and her participation made the fights a lot more easier.

In addition to that, Wilhelmina smelled a rat. She had a feeling that the incident in Tokyo was not as simple as it seemed. Somehow she knew that the Bal Masque were involved in it, she just needed concrete evidence. And once she found them, she could probably prevent any surprise attacks planned by the army of Crimson Denizens.

She did not know why, but her head was getting dizzier and dizzier. She never needed long to shake off her morning rustiness, but the condition of her head seemed to be worsening. In fact she had hardly noticed that she had received a new fax.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, and picked up the paper. There was only one word written on the entire paper.

_Remember_

She stared at it with her lips shut tight at a straight line. Was this a prank? An error with the fax? Or somebody had sent it accidentally to her? She quickly checked where the fax was from, but the address was unknown to her. Then she looked at the word again. Remember? Was there something she had forgotten about the case, or what?

Somehow drawn to the message, she subconsciously touched the word. All of a sudden Wilhelmina felt a strange aura that sent a tingling sensation throughout her entire body. She dropped the paper accidentally, lifted her head and looked around, wary of any attacks. She was shocked to find out that she could not see anything outside the window: a thick black fog seemed to have enveloped her apartment. In fact, it was awfully silent that she felt as if she were in a vacuum.

"Have you forgotten?" The voice of a young girl rang from somewhere, echoing as if ten people were repeating her words. Wilhelmina started. But she could not see anyone. In fact, she could not even detect any presence nearby. All she could feel was the cold, eerie sensation, which was making her more and more uncomfortable by the second.

Wait, wasn't Shana in the apartment with her? Usually at this time she would be getting ready for school. She could not sense her presence, so Shana must have left earlier. In fact it would be hard to imagine Shana not knowing that they a spell had been cast right under her nose. Wilhelmina must have woken up late; she was, after all, very tired.

"What do you mean?" Wilhelmina said in a cautioning tone, still looking around her for the speaker, although she had assumed a fighting pose.

"Explain." Tiamat chipped in.

"You wouldn't know even if I told you, you have forgotten." The voice replied.

"What is it that I have forgotten?" Wilhelmina asked.

"Something you shall remember soon." The voice echoed, trailing away.

The fog lifted immediately, and the silence was gone. Wilhelmina stopped feeling the strange aura, but she still did not let her guard down. She was still observing her surroundings carefully in case of an attack. After a while she concluded that her adversary had indeed departed, so she decided to continue her daily routine.

She went to Shana's room and saw that it was empty; it looked a little messy and the sheets were on the floor. Shana always had Wilhelmina clean the room for her, so she never bothered about taking care of the tidiness of her own room. Then Wilhelmina looked at the clock and proved herself right. She had indeed overslept for an hour.

After cleaning she went back to her working desk. She had been given the task to locate a Crimson Lord by the name of Matt Solomon; it seemed simple enough, but how should she start? There were no such records of this Crimson Lord in the Outlaw database, so how on earth would she be able to find any information on something that even the Outlaws did not know about?

First off she needed to pinpoint Solomon's place of origin. From there on maybe she could find people who have links to him, probably his descendants. Her guess was that Solomon had lived in Central Europe; there weren't many places that had civilization a thousand years ago. So she planned to leave and head to the Outlaw branch in London and see if they can shed some new light on her.

She packed all the necessary items into her huge green backpack. She could have left immediately, but opted to wait for Shana's return. She felt obliged to inform her about where she was going and what she was doing, lest Shana will worry about her.

Judge of Paradoxes Bel Peol and Master Throne Hecate were having a simple meeting when Sydonay barged into the room with his new recruit and disrupted their conversation.

"It seems that we're going to change our plans." He said to the two women.

"Oh?" Bel Peol said, raising an eyebrow, "Are you indicating that Hecate's plans are not good enough? Do you have any suggestions?"

Sydonay was about to speak when Bel Peol cut across him. "And who is this?" She asked.

"Part of our new plan." Sydonay boasted.

Bel Peol walked towards the Devourer and observe him closely. "My, you look very handsome." She commented in a mischievous sort of way.

Sydonay cleared his throat. "Let's get down to business. Before this, we have planned to have me attack Dorel Kubelik in Zurich, am I right?"

"You are absolutely right. We will set a diversion to isolate the other Flame Hazes protecting him, giving you a clear path to cut his head off. By killing the leader, we could basically destroy the entire Outlaw organization." Bel Peol said to him, though her eyes were still focused on the Devourer, who looked bored.

"And once Outlaw has been wiped out, the Flame Haze will not be able to team up together and give us trouble. This I know." Sydonay said. "However, I do not plan to destroy Outlaw; I plan to control it."

"That would not be possible. You are just being delusional. I am not going to change our plans, it seems perfect to me." Bel Peol shot back at him.

"Let me finish first." Sydonay said impatiently. "Your plan was very good up to this point, until I found Handsome over here."

He turned to the Devourer and said, "Go on, show her what you can do."

The Devourer looked at him for a while, then transformed into Yu Xuan. He was even holding her weapon.

"Magnificent, is it not?" Sydonay said, "This guy here has the ability to disguise as the person he last devoured. In fact, he went into an Outlaw branch with this camouflage and nobody could see through it. The moment I see this guy I know he's gonna be a big part of us."

"Don't tell me... your plan is to..." Hecate said in a soft voice.

"This guy over here will disguise himself as my old lover and devour him. As you have said, we have set a diversion near Zurich. The plan stays. Yu Xuan will enter the Dorel Party and offer to protect the leader. She will demand the other Flame Haze to get to the diversion point, leaving her alone with him. And you know what'll happen. The plan is excellent, but we're just going to make little change in it: I will not be doing the coup de grace on Dorel Kubelik; this guy is going to devour him, and become him." Sydonay replied. "I have never even dreamt that the leader of the Flame Haze army would become one of us! Imagine all the information about our enemies in our fingertips, and all the traps we can set for them! The Flame Haze will be eliminated in no time. And with adversary out of our way, we can finally complete the Grand Order."

"You recruited a valuable member for our army," Hecate commented. "And you thought of a very ambitious plan. You have become smarter."

"Was that even a compliment?" Sydonay grunted.

"Hold on!" Bel Peol interrupted, looking a little irritant at Sydonay,"Are you saying that you are going to pitch this rookie into a big mission like this one? What if he fails? Your plan is very ambitious, but the risks are too great. And if his disguise is seen through, all the Flame Haze will be alerted, and our chance of annihilating Dorel Kubelik will be gone forever,"

"I trust that my buddy here will not mess up. He seems as if he was already doing his thing before we even existed, the way he handles everything. Look at him now, this is the Yu Xuan who had killed so many of our army over the centuries, even I had trouble battling with her, and he had disposed of her so easily. Trust me; this guy is meant to be part of our success." Sydonay said calmly. "And besides, I thought you have taken a liking to him?" he added.

Bel Peol said nothing to Sydonay, but talked to the Devourer, who was still in his Yu Xuan disguise.

"You really killed her? One of the best Flame Haze died at your hand? I do not wish to overestimate you. If that is true I guess you proved the theory of handsome guys are useless false."

The Devourer did not answer to that. He looked as if he wanted nothing else but to leave the conversation.

"However, just to make sure that your victory over Sydonay's old lover is not a fluke, I want you to battle me. I will agree to Sydonay's plan if you prove to me that you are strong enough." Bel Peol said, readying her weapon.

Sydonay laughed happily. "You asked for it." He said to her. "And don't kill her, she's our ally." He added to the Devourer.

Without warning, Bel Peol shot one of her chains at Yu Xuan. Before the attack could connect, Yu Xuan had dispersed into smoke, leaving only her sword visible. The sword swung upward and sliced her chain into two.

Bel Peol's eyes widened. "He's able to use her powers as well?" She thought. She was so shocked by the turn of events that she did not notice the Devourer had snuck up behind her. As a result, she got poled on the head and fell on the ground on all fours.

"I guess this is it." Sydonay said to Bel Peol as the Devourer returned to his true form. "You can admit defeat now. I do not wish for the both of you to fight till the death."

"You are right..." Bel Peol grunted, getting back on her feet, "I was just surprised that a Crimson Denizen could be so strong."

"So it's settled, then?" Hecate asked, "Is he going to be in tomorrow's charge?"

"Yes it's settled." It wasn't Sydonay who said it, but Bel Peol. "He is part of us now."

"Then I will go and get the vessel ready, please excuse me." Hecate said and left the room.

Sydonay looked on as Hecate made her way out of the room. Then turned to the Devourer and spoke to him, "Oh yeah, we still don't know your name."

"I don't have a name..." He replied icily.

"Well, then you have to think of something we can call you." Sydonay responded somewhat irascibly.

The Devourer did not respond to that. In fact, he had hardly moved at all since he completed his quick battle against Bel Peol. Sydonay looked at him, waiting for an answer, but the Devourer didn't seem like he wanted to speak. Sydonay sighed and was about to give up when, surprisingly, the Devourer spoke.

"Devourer." He said to him. Then he left the room.

"Devourer, huh... A name fit for a stony kid like you." Sydonay commented to himself. Bel Peol sniggered beside him.

"What are you laughing at?" Sydonay asked. "Did he knock the stuffing out of you or what?"

Bel Peol's face darkened instantly. "You know very well that I let him win on purpose."

"Yeah, I can tell." Sydonay said truthfully, but Bel Peol thought he was being sarcastic.

"I challenged him to a battle not to test his skills, but to examine his composure. It seems that he can hold his ground pretty well. In big missions, you need mental strength more than physical strength, or else you're a goner." She continued.

"This kid's a good fighter too. Even a Bladed Flower Slaughterer who let her guard down is still an amazing one, but he still managed to be her. Even when facing a stronger adversary he didn't back down. That kid's got balls."

"Courage and foolishness are two different entities. I'm just glad that he didn't end up dying at the hands of that Flame Haze, else we couldn't have been able to recruit him." Bel Peol said, smiling. "He's too handsome to die just like that."

Sydonay snorted. "I'll go get everyone ready. Tomorrow we shall head for Zurich and seize the Dorel Party."

"And by 'we', you mean you and your new boyfriend plus the other sacrifices while I stay here and defend this place." Bel Peol shot back at him.

"We cannot leave this place unguarded and you know it." Sydonay replied, "And moreover, I have a strange feeling of déjà vu, like I've actually done this attack and succeeded before." He knitted his brows together.

"At any rate, make sure that the mission goes well, or you'll have me to answer too." Bel Peol threatened him, "You are the one who suggested changing plans."

"Don't worry. I got it all covered." Came Sydonay's reply.


End file.
